Welcome to the 2012 Briefing Series for Members of Congress and Staff

Earthquake Early Warning: Every Second Counts

Imagine if doctors had time to stop delicate procedures before an earthquake. And if emergency responders had a few extra moments to gear up, airplane landings could be postponed, trains slowed, and people could move to safer locations. Come learn how the USGS and its partners are helping provide critical seconds of notification through an earthquake early warning system in the United States.

Date: Friday, September 28, 2012Time: 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

1334 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

A repeat of this briefing will be held at 2 pm in 366 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Follow the Congressional Briefing Series on Twitter, by following @USGSLive or hashtag #usgscbs.

Speaker Biographies

Richard Allen

Richard Allen is Professor of earth and planetary sciences and Director of UC Berkeley's Seismological Laboratory. His research focuses on natural disasters, including development of an earthquake early warning system, and imaging the 3D structure of the deep earth to understand the dynamic processes responsible for deformation at the surface. As Director of the seismological laboratory, and in partnership with the USGS, he operates several geophysical network which detection earthquakes and assessment hazards in realtime. In recent years he has spearheaded the development and implementation of a demonstration early warning system that now delivers alerts to external test users from industry and the public sector.

Bill Leith

Bill Leith is a seismologist and the Senior Science Advisor for Earthquake and Geologic Hazards at the U. S. Geological Survey. As the Senior Advisor, he oversees the Earthquake Hazards, Geomagnetism and Global Seismographic Network Programs. Bill joined the USGS in 1986, after receiving a doctoral degree in seismology and geology from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He served as Chief of the USGS Special Geologic Studies Group from 1990-2001, as Senior Technical Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance, from 2001-2003, as the Coordinator of the Advanced National Seismic System from 2003-2012, and as USGS Acting Associate Director in 2010-2011.

Chris Terzich

Chris Terzich is the Chair, Regional Consortium Coordinating Council . Terzich is responsible for Wells Fargo's emergency preparedness program including development of the company's Enterprise Incident Management Team, first used in response to September 11. He works extensively on homeland security partnerships, founding the Minnesota Information Sharing and Analysis Center. In his 23 years at Wells Fargo, Chris has managed various programs including executive protection and robbery training. He has also provided response and management for a wide range of events from a visit by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to an employee kidnapping, wildfires and hurricanes.

For information on the Briefing on Capitol Hill, please call 703-648-4455.